I'm No Superman

Iowa State University has a relatively new undergraduate program entitled “Global Resource Systems” (GLOBE). This is an interdisciplinary major that incorporates a core education, technical area, and geographic focus into a degree program through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I stumbled upon this major halfway through my freshman year at Iowa State after being unfulfilled with my coursework in journalism and international relations. So, I moved into GLOBE with a focus in Sub-Saharan Africa and a technical area of biology (pre-occupational therapy/public health). This past semester I became a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician in addition to my coursework at ISU.

 In just a year and a half in the program I’ve been allowed the opportunity to travel to Uganda on a service-learning team promoting sustainable agriculture and school feeding, take classes on topics I’ve always been passionate about (including economics, rural sociology, development, world food issues, etc.), and meet a bunch of “globies” who a.) I’m convinced are superheroes and b.) Are some of my biggest role models at Iowa State.

A defining portion of the program is a required 6-10 week global internship in your area of focus. Typically, this internship is completed prior to your final year and is the basis of your senior research project. People travel to all areas of the world participating in internships regarding improving rural beef production, teaching English, restoring wildlife sanctuaries, establishing water filtration systems; the list goes on.

International travel is expensive; therefore generous donors to the GLOBE program help aid students to cover airfare and sometimes-basic essentials on these typically unpaid internships. I sold my soul to do some personal fundraising (apologies for the obnoxiousness and a HUGE thank you to all who contributed) and of course worked multiple jobs in order to pay tuition, rent, and go without a paycheck all summer.

I love what I’m studying, so I honestly would have gone without food for the opportunity to do field research, but it’s nice that I don’t have to.

I decided to complete my internship this summer when an opportunity rose to analyze different approaches to feeding/nutrition programs in Uganda. I participated in research regarding school feeding programs with a professor who helped to establish ISU’s involvement in Uganda (although I didn’t know it at the time) and I’m about 97% sure that’s the reason I ended up being chosen to participate in the Uganda Service-Learning Program last year. The school feeding and nutrition project two students from Makerere University and I worked on won awards at a World Food Prize undergraduate competition and was presented at various conferences. It just seemed natural to return to Uganda and contribute research to a program that has done so much for me.

This program that has done so much for me, and in retrospect, I do very little for the program.

I’m uncomfortable when people say that I am “doing big things” or “changing the world” (Truly, receiving any praise). In reality, Sanyu and CSRL’s Nutrition Education Center (& the GLOBE program) are providing hands-on experience in a field I would like to work in the future. These organizations and people allow me to interrupt their daily lives so I can learn. Of course the goal is that I can refine strategies of addressing malnutrition in children and improve people’s lives, but I play a very small part in the grand scheme of things.

I hope that my sharing of my time in Uganda doesn’t falsely glorify my role here.  This whole blogging-thing was originated for the purpose of letting my family and close friends know what was going on without making $4 a minute international phone calls rather than a “Hey, look at me, I’m Mother Teresa”. I also like to share my experiences and pictures because I think they have potential to provide a more personal connection to a place that is distant from home and often misunderstood.

There’s no way that I could do this all on my own and I am so grateful to Iowa State, GLOBE, Sanyu, CSRL, and every person I’ve ever encountered for helping me get to where I am. I’m just a product of the wonderful surroundings.

Little People

In Toy Story 3, the toys are donated to Sunnyside Daycare Center. Upon entrance, the gang introduced to a calm group of children nicely playing with toys in the Butterfly Room. They start to believe that this place may be safe and loving, excited to begin their new adventure.

Then they enter the Caterpillar Room.

In this analogy, I am the toy and the older children’s play area at Sanyu is the Caterpillar room.

Now, I love the older kids in the home. They have spunk, personality, and need a lot of attention.  It’s very different from the babies who are mostly content to eat and sleep all day. Each child has such a great personality, so I thought I’d share a few. 

“Scooter”

He doesn’t walk, doesn’t crawl, but he causes more mischief than any other 10 month old I’ve ever met.  His means of transport, scooting. He always has a smile on his face and the Mama’s refer to him as “the one that likes to fight”, due to his greeting of hitting everything he encounters. I like to think it’s out of excitement and poor depth perception.

“Angelica”

As the eldest at the home, Angelica knows all the rules and how to break them. I give her this name because she reminds me of the girl off of Rugrats, only less selfish. She likes to help out in the kitchen and is excellent at telling the other kids what to do. She’s a tough cookie, she’s had a tough life, but she really looks out for everyone and is great to have around. & She has one of those hideous dolls.

“Scut Farkus” 

Every playground has one, the bully. He’s big and tough and one of the biggest headaches in the sand box. Don’t tell the other kids this, but he’s a huge softy who just needs some love. It’s hard getting attention when you’re older, so acting out is how he gets his fill.  

“Chicken Little”

I honestly have yet to learn this little guy’s name, but he is the free-roaming chickens’ worst nightmare around here. When the enkuku (Luganda for chicken) make their way to the playground he raises a rebel yell that must mean, “Kill the Chickens”. I kid you not, he comes within inches of catching them as the other kids cheer and throw shoes. Chicken catching is probably the highlight of my afternoon. Reminds me of Orange is the New Black, which makes me laugh even harder. Thanks, Chicken Little, I will learn your name tomorrow.

“Chompers”

Take the world’s worst case of the terrible two’s and triple it into one feisty toddler. Now, meet Chompers. I learned Chompers name first, simply because all of the Mamas yell her name at some point during the day. She smiles at you with a full set of teeth that go straight into your leg. When you react, she laughs. Yet when she is upset (90% of the time of her own accord) she cuddles up in your lap for hugs. God help if there are other children already there. She also hates wearing pants. We get along.

"Madonna"

Everything is a song. Literally everything. I don’t understand half of what she sings, but it’s adorable.

"Mr. Smooth"

He’s a sweet talker with a big smile and full of mischief. You can’t help but love him, even when he’s ornery. He's kind of the Angelica for the boys at Sanyu since he's the oldest and knows the ropes. They play a key role in setting the tone for the day and help keep everyone in line. Or out of it. Again, depends on the day.

"Him"

He’s the one every mother worries about when their daughter says she’s going to work in an orphanage. That is, the one that steals her heart. This little guy is about one and a half and was abandoned at Sanyu when he was just a week old. He’s kind of the runt of the older kids and needs some extra help getting around. The Mama’s call him “stubborn” because he likes to be held and is not quite ready to be “one of the big kids”. Let’s just say I think I’ve discovered what love is. & It’s terrifying.   

These are just a few of the lovely little people who inhabit this home and make my job more fun. & I promised I'd post more often. So here it is. 

A Day in the Life

A typical day for the kiddos at Sanyu looks something like this:

            5am- Morning Feed (for young babies)         

            7am – Breakfast

            8am – Potty & Getting Dressed

            9am-12pm – Class Time (separate classes for age groups)

            12pm – Lunch & Potty

            1pm -3pm – Naptime

            3-3:30pm – Snack time & Potty

            3:30-6pm – Playtime

            6pm – Dinner, Bath, & Potty

            7pm – Bedtime

            12am – Midnight Feed (for young babies)

A typical day for the Mamas (Caregivers) at Sanyu:

            *in addition to children’s schedule

            8:30 am – Wash dishes, cups & bottles, mop & clean dining room

            9am – Wash toys, mats, floors, bed sheets, mattresses, shoes, mosquito nets

            11am – Laundering and folding of clothes

            12:30 – Wash dishes, cups & bottles, mop & clean dining room

            1pm – Lunch

            3pm – Bathe small babies

            3:30pm – Separate and sort children’s clothes

            4:00pm – Supervise and play with children

            6:00pm – Wash dishes, cups & bottles, mop & clean dining room

            6:30pm – Bathe older children

Needless to say, these caregivers are saints. Their backbreaking work of completing these chores by hand goes relatively unnoticed by the children and it is exhausting. Not only do they complete all of these tasks, but they also serve as emotional support to these children. Saints, I tell you.  

In addition to completing a portion of my research here, I try to be of aid in whatever is needed. My typical day looks something like this:

            6:30am – Wake up, eat breakfast, occasionally call home (yay time change)

            7am – Answer emails, annotate research, and outline goals for day

            9am – Wash bottles and dishes

            9:30 am– Fold and sort laundry, a lot of it.

            11:00am – Aid in meal prep, document menu

            11:30am – Feed babies/Baby holding

            12:00pm- Feed the masses

            1:00pm- Wrestle older kids into clean clothes for nap

            1:15pm – Research, study, read, write this blog thingy, nap (varies by day)

            3:00pm – Bathe small babies

            3:30 – 6:00pm – Be repeatedly attacked with love by children in forms of sand                  throwing, hugs, hitting, slobbery kisses, hair pulling, and hand holding.

            6:00pm – Dinner, assist with feeding

            6:30pm – Dishes and Clean-up

            6:50pm – Helping dry off and dress children for bed. (No lie, the hardest part)

            7:00pm –Shower, dinner, facebook creep, meet up with friends

            8:00pm – Pretend to study, watch the fourth season of PLL on repeat, reflect

            9:00pm - Sleep

It’s what I like to call, “living the dream”.

Laundry Room 

Cooking Porridge 

Making Mango Juice 

Sick Baby not amused by pictures 

Well, not quite.

Don’t get me wrong; working here is rewarding and so much fun. It’s like working in a daycare for about forty kids under the age of 4. You have age-appropriate activities for cognitive/physical development (lots of playtime), eat yummy food and snacks, hang out with other kids your age, it’s a good time. The twist being, at the end of the day, these kids don’t go home. Sanyu is their home. Just like 2.4 million other little Ugandans, they are orphans.

In terms of population, Uganda is the youngest nation in the world with their median age being 15. They are also the country with the highest number of orphans, half of which are a result of parental death due to HIV/AIDS.

Uganda children are tough. They play and run around with no shoes, wouldn’t know what to do with meal utensils, and live without a lot of supervision. Often, they are seen as extra hands on the farm, many times the eldest aiding in child rearing. It’s a survival thing, a culture thing, and a different way of life thing. 

The kids at Sanyu are the lucky ones. They have a roof over their head, a bed, are well fed, (now to break the rhyming pattern) and are the most likely age group to be adopted into forever homes. Lucky is a relative term, of course. Children are not meant to be raised in an institution. The emotional damage of being abandoned or losing both parents has got to severe. & Not all of these kids get adopted, meaning they move on to homes for older kids, life gets harder.

It’s a sobering reality.

My role in all of this is to make it easier for the primary caregivers to do their job. I am only a temporary presence in Sanyu and it is not my place to have the children be dependent on me then leave. (Quite frankly, they’ve experienced enough attachment issues for a lifetime) I look for ways to improve their health and aid the Mamas.

Often times that means kissing wounds and keeping the kids busy.

No complaints here.

The City That Never Sleeps

       
     In a country of almost 37 million people, I am living in a 72 sq foot city with approximately 1.2-2.7 million, depending on the time of day. It’s not quite New York, but Kampala, Uganda could give them a run for their money in terms of constant hustle and bustle. I am spending the first few weeks of my internship at Sanyu Babies’ Home where I am collecting data for my research concerning child nutrition programs in institutional and rural settings of Uganda. I’ll spend half of my summer in Kampala and the remainder at the Nutrition Education Center in Kamuli, a rural outreach program for mothers and children, to determine overall efficiency, quality, sustainability, and impacts. In addition to my research I hope to aid in any odds and ends I can while at these locations. Currently, this makes me a glorified baby-holder.

            Sanyu Babies’ Home (Meaning: Home of Joy) is an organization that cares for abandoned children in Uganda. It was established in 1929 and is able to care for about fifty children from newborns to four year olds. The journey of each child to Sanyu is different, but many have been found in the garbage, pit latrines, taxi parks, side of the road, etc. The workers also tell stories of children brought in missing limbs because dogs have rescued them a bit too roughly from the site of abandonment. Sanyu serves as an in-between home for these young children and attempts to reunite them with relatives or forever families. It’s a bittersweet experience working here, to say the least, but it has been quite an adventure thus far.

            I left good ol’ Iowa for Uganda May 20^th, a quick turnaround from finishing up finals and testing for the NREMT. Perhaps due to stress or a bad salad, I was uncomfortably sick during my travels. Minutes before boarding my international flight, (i.e. vomiting in the airport bathroom) I considered forgoing my excursion for a few weeks, but so many plans were in place and I was currently traveling with two other students that I deemed rescheduling an inconvenience. So I jumped on an 8-hour flight to Amsterdam and hated myself the entire way. I survived the flight and even helped a passenger who fainted, on top of me nonetheless, with my freshly learned EMT skills. Another long layover, 10-hour flight, and an hour drive to my home made for 37 total hours of travel. Yuck.

            My living situation is fantastic and can be seen pictured below. It is feet from Sanyu, has WiFi, and most importantly (Hi Mom!), is guarded and safe. It is a home for volunteers at Sanyu, therefore I may have others joining as the summer progresses, but currently it is just the house manager, Joel and myself. (Update: & now Lance, as his building flooded during the night) We spent the first day touring Sanyu, picking up groceries/necessities in Kampala, and aiding in feeding during the evening. Yesterday I attended Staff Nutrition Training, worked all morning at Sanyu, and explored Kampala in search of a phone (much more exciting than it sounds).

Front Porch/Entrance 

Living/Dining Room

Bathroom

Kitchen

Bedroom (Pardon the Mess) 

            Summary: Made it to Uganda safely, feeling much better, updates to come.